[Woodworkers] Pricing cabinets

[Dave Heitstuman]

I would say that the price is very reasonable, although you might be a tad low on hardware?  I have a tendency to go with better quality hardware on stuff for myself and was really surprised how expensive it has gotten on a project I did last year.  My daughter had something similar done in her living room, I could check with her on what she paid for professionally built and installed cabinets.  Her price should be slightly less since it was done as part of her kitchen cabinets.  The only problem is she is out of town this week so she cannot look at the paperwork.
With that said you are missing one critical item.  There is a standing rule at our house.  Every project gets a tool ☺  On a smaller project such as this maybe some little gadget that will aid in the construction of the cabinets.

From: Woodworkers [mailto:woodworkers-bounces at lists.sawdusters.org] On Behalf Of Greg via Woodworkers
Sent: Monday, August 12, 2019 6:35 AM
To: A place where woodworkers talk about woodworking
Cc: Greg
Subject: [Woodworkers] Pricing cabinets

Hey guys; I'm having a bit of a debate with the wife and could use some help.

I'm starting prep work on my next project which will be a pair of custom upper cabinets for a back hallway.

I designed them up, calculated materials cost etc and gave my wife the number. She was like "that seems a bit high to me..".

See she, like many people, are used to seeing "big box" non-custom cabinet prices; and while my cost is still significantly lower than that; (obviously, being a family project my labor is free) she still wasn't impressed with the number.

So, in discussing it further she said "well, find me what the cost of custom would be." Well, of course, all customer cabinetmakers won't quote prices without a consult and I don't want to waste their time when obviously I'm not going to give them a sale.

Can someone please ballpark me a figure?

Info:
A pair of 42" tall x ~44" wide (double door) plus side trim to flush them to the side walls (on each side of the 88" space).
The cabinets are to be painted; so "paint grade" materials (3/4" Baltic Birch ply cases 1/4" ply backs)
Poplar face frame.
Doors are full overlay simple shaker style (flat panel) doors (poplar frame, 1/4" ply panels)
Two adjustable (peg) shelves per cabinet.

My estimated lumber costs came in at $200 and I'm figuring 50 for primer/paint and 25-30ish for hardware. I just rounded up to $300 and gave her that as our cost.

I'll probably also put in a strip of crown molding between their tops and the ceiling but I didn't include this in the price at this point.

Thanks,
Greg
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